Boston Bruins & Boston Pride Announce Partnership

The Boston Bruins and Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League today announced a partnership to advance the game of women’s hockey in Massachusetts and surrounding region.

“The Boston Pride are incredibly proud to join the rich history and competitive hockey family of the Boston Bruins,” said NWHL Deputy Commissioner Hayley Moore. “The Bruins’ commitment to advancing hockey across all levels aligns with what the NWHL stands for. We appreciate this partnership and their support in marketing and player development for the Pride, and we look forward to collaborating with the Bruins on a series of meaningful youth hockey initiatives.”

The Bruins-Pride alignment will be highlighted in part by the new Bruins Academy Girls Learn to Play program, which will offer girls ages four through ten the opportunity to learn the basics of hockey led by Boston Pride players.

PHOTO BY MICHELLE JAY

The entire Pride team is attending the Bruins-Capitals game tonight to celebrate the partnership. Members of the Pride will participate in various on-ice activities and broadcast and scoreboard interviews throughout the game, and fans can visit the Boston Pride table on the TD Garden concourse to learn more about the team and the Girls Learn to Play program.

The Bruins are the fourth NHL team to partner directly with an NWHL team. At the start of the 2017-18 season – the league’s third – the New Jersey Devils became the first NHL franchise to form a strategic alliance with the league, signing a partnership with the Metropolitan Riveters. A month later, Pegula Sports & Entertainment – owners of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres – acquired the Buffalo Beauts in full. When the NWHL expanded to Minnesota before the current season, the Wild formed a partnership with the Whitecaps. The league has also worked jointly with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2017), Wild (2018) and Nashville Predators (2019) on NWHL All-Star Weekends.

“In just the last 15 months, four NHL teams have secured mutually-beneficial partnerships with our clubs,” said NWHL Founder and Commissioner Dani Rylan. “We are proud of these alignments with NHL franchises. Our league office and teams work hard to be strong collaborators. As the Bruins will see, there is a lot that the Pride will bring to the table as they build women’s and girls’ hockey programs in their community.”

PHOTO BY MICHELLE JAY

The Bruins will also be supporting the Pride at their home game vs. Minnesota Whitecaps on Saturday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Warrior Ice Arena. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a cobranded Bruins & Pride beanie hat, and Bruins mascot Blades will be participating in the ceremonial puck drop. Tickets can be purchased at NWHL.zone/tickets.

PHOTO BY MICHELLE JAY

“All of the Pride players are really excited to enter into this partnership with the Bruins,” said Pride goaltender Katie Burt, who played at Boston College and is the NCAA’s all-time leader in victories. “This is a tremendous opportunity for us, and we appreciate the support from the Bruins. We look forward to working with them on great programs for the betterment of hockey across the region.”

The $100 registration fee for the Learn to Play program includes a full set of brand-new CCM equipment to keep valued at $500 retail, a professional equipment fitting, and four weeks of on ice instruction led by certified coaches.

The girls program will be held at five rinks beginning in March 2019: Philips Academy Rink in Andover, Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, The Bog Ice Arena in Duxbury, Murphy Memorial Skating Rink in South Boston, and Veterans Memorial Skating Rink in Waltham. Registration for this program opens on January 21 HERE.

The Bruins will host the third annual Girls Hockey Day on Friday, February 8 at TD Garden. The day will be highlighted by clinics and scrimmages for girls and women of all ages.